Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 21 September 2012

THE CITY of Glasgow has been presenting a choir for world acclaim since Queen Victoria was still warm, just, so it is maybe appropriate that the present incarnation, the Glasgow Phoenix Choir, enjoys the sponsorship of The Co-operative Funeralcare, and that encourages their conductor and music director, Marilyn J Smith MBE to indulge in some excruciating puns during her introductory remarks.

ORIGINALLY the Toynbee Musical Association, the famous Glasgow Orpheus Choir became famous under Sir Hugh Roberton and gave to the musical world such memorable songs as ‘All in The April Evening’, ‘Westering Home’ and ‘Mhairi’s Wedding’. Following Roberton’s retirement in 1951 the choir was resurrected as the Glasgow Phoenix Choir, and as part of that choir’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations a selection of the members began a Scottish tour at the Strathpeffer Pavilion on Friday evening.

Glasgow Phoenix Choir

There could be any number of reasons to explain why the Pavilion was nearly full a good twenty minutes before the concert was due to start. Of course the reputation of the choir was paramount, but there was also the Gareth Malone effect, adding to the universal popularity of choral music, and the fact that the highly accomplished Dingwall Gaelic Choir was performing a couple of guest sets in the programme attracted their loyal followers.

The Roberton legacy lives on with immaculate choral singing from the Phoenix Choir, even if the old repertoire has been replaced with a selection of songs more suited to 21st century tastes, and some members of the Choir – Billy Hillan, Sandy Mitchell, Elspeth Shearer and Elizabeth Dingwall – were called forward for solo spots.

Obviously a huge amount of rehearsal time has been spent perfecting the unison required for the full collection called The Glory of Song, but with a few notable exceptions the chosen arrangements were not complicated and the Choir sang without scores and sometimes a capella. Marilyn Smith made the point that she chose the programme as the evening progressed so as to suit the acoustic of the venue and the response of the audience, and that demonstrated the skill of the singers in that they were able to pluck from their individual memories any of the fifty or so prepared songs.

The opener, ‘One Voice’, was a gentle crescendo as the singing changed from a solo to the full choir and then the question was posed ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?’, after which the audience were told ‘Let All The World in Every Corner Sing’. Two featured songs, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘The Holy City’, lead by Billy Hillan and Elspeth Shearer, preceded a somewhat reserved audience participation for ‘Highland Cathedral’.

While the Glasgow Phoenix Choir took a short break, Kirsteen Menzies introduced her Dingwall Gaelic Choir, current holder of the Lovat and Tulliebardine Shield, getting in some performance practice before heading south to Dunoon for this year’s National Mod. In both halves of the evening, the set performed by the Gaelic Choir provided a pleasing contrast to the style of the Phoenix Choir, giving the audience classics such as ‘Macrimmon’s Lament’, sung by the men with the ladies providing a continuo. As a special tribute to all the work he had done to develop the Dingwall Gaelic Choir before passing the reins to his daughter, Hamish Menzies was called from the audience to roars of approval to bring the Gaelic content of the evening to a close.

The run to the tape began with Carol Bayer Sager’s ‘Thankful’, followed by the American spiritual ‘He’s Got The Whole World in His Hands’ and, as a contrast, Cole Porter’s ‘Anything Goes’, which did not quite swing enough. Then the two choirs joined forces for ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and as an encore, from Mamma Mia, ‘Thank You For The Music’, along with arm and body movements from all concerned.

The Glasgow Phoenix Choir is without doubt Scotland’s ambassador to the world of choral singing, and attending one of their concerts should be mandatory. So why did I leave the Strathpeffer Pavilion with the thought in my mind, “Box Ticked”? Possibly because the balance of music, and choral singing in particular, had tipped a tad too far towards plain entertainment.

© James Munro, 2012

Links

• Glasgow Phoenix Choir